Auto-Braking Standard Pact: Victory or Set-Back?

In a recent article published on Autonews.com questions were raised as to whether the recent industrywide pact to make automatic emergency braking standard on new cars by 2022 as a victory or a set-back.

Safety advocates are concerned that the focus on the deal is more about regulatory expediency regardless of doing what’s right; and that’s to ensure the highest quality of safety standards in vehicle production.

Joan Claybrook, a former NHTSA Administrator is quoted as saying “I think it’s a terrible precedent. By and large, if the agency has the authority to do something, it ought to use its authority.”

Conversely, Mark Rosekind, the National highway Traffic Safety Administration Chief who has championed this pact says “too often, safety efforts in the past have been determined by what government could force manufacturers to do and what manufacturers could avoid doing. And in a world where we lose more than 32,000 lives a year on the road, that approach simply isn’t good enough.”

Claybrook’s concern with the auto-braking pact, is that’s it’s a voluntary one. She believes it will be ineffective. The Center for Auto Safety and Consumer Watchdog points out that such standards cannot be enforced by government, have had no input from the public, and are “typically the product of industry players seeking to maximize profit and marketing concerns at the expense of robust consumer protection, reflecting the lowest common denominator of industry practice.”

Both sides offer compelling arguments. What is your take on this new industrywide pact? How will it affect your business practices?